Research studies, in which people volunteer to take part in are called clinical trials. Clinical trials are used to try to help people with mesothelioma, and they are used for all stages and all types of mesothelioma. If a patient participates in a clinical trial, they can get the treatment before the rest of the public. However, there can be some negatives to this, as they can be the first to discover the side effects of the treatment and the treatment may not end up working in general.
Informed Consent
To participate in a clinical trial, the patient must take part in a process called informed consent. During this process it is the job of the doctor to explain what each person needs to do to participate in the clinical trial, including the number of tests, the schedule of treatment and the number of doctor visits. The doctor should also tell the patient all of the risks involved with the new treatment and explain all of the treatment options, so the person comprehends how the new treatment differs from the standard treatment.
Clinical Trial in Philadelphia
When participating in a clinical trial, you may seize participation at any time for medical or personal reasons. There are currently clinical trials going on right now for mesothelioma patients throughout the world. One clinical trial in Philadelphia that is recruiting in 2023 is “Pembrolizumab in Combination With Chemotherapy and Image-Guided Surgery for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma.” The study involves a “single-arm phase I trial to evaluate the safety, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of the addition of pembrolizumab and image-guided resection to surgical therapy and chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM).” The drugs involved include pembrolizumab, cisplatin and pemetrexed and the procedure is an indocyanine green image-guided surgery.
Eligibility Criteria
This clinical trial is located at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. For this trial and for all clinical trials a person must fit into the eligibility criteria to participate. Some criteria for this clinical trial are being 18 years or older, being willing and able to give written informed consent, being willing to give tissue from a newly obtained biopsy of a tumor lesion, among many other criteria.
Measured Outcomes
The primary outcome measure of this clinical trial is the study of related adverse events. All subjects are to be assessed for adverse events from the time of their first treatment until 30 days after their treatment is over for adverse events and until 90 days after their last treatment for adverse events that are more serious. Secondary outcome measures are progression-free survival and overall survival. For progression-free survival all subjects are to be assessed for progression-free survival from when they are first treated until the date when disease progression or death has been documented, or until the study is over. The estimated length of the study is two years. When it comes to measuring overall survival, all subjects are to be assessed for overall survival from the time that they are first treated until the time that their disease progression or death has been documented.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, please call the Halpern Law Firm at (800) 505-6000 or fill out our form for legal help. Call today for a free case evaluation and to get more information. We have over 30 years of experience and have won over $100 million for our clients.
Sources:
https://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/mesothelioma/about-clinical-trials
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03760575?cond=Mesothelioma&rank=5
Written By Sadie Gold
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